Differential cross sections (DCSs) for elastic scattering of electrons from alanine, have been measured using a crossed beam system for incident energies between 20 and 80eV and scattering angles from 10 degrees to 150 degrees. The experimental data were placed upon an absolute scale by normalisation to calculated absolute integral cross sections obtained using the corrected independent-atom method incorporating an improved quasifree absorption model. The calculated data-set includes DCSs and integral elastic and inelastic cross sections in the incident energy range between 1 and 10,000eV. These theoretical results are found to agree very well with the experimental data both in the shape and magnitude of DCSs except at the smallest scattering angles. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.